The many moods of Eric Orff’s moose Biologist’s presentation includes appeal to tackle climate change

Thursday

Apr 10, 2014 at 3:15 AM

By John Nolanjnolan@fosters.com

FARMINGTON — A crowd of almost 60 people came to Farmington Opera House last week to hear a presentation on moose by writer and biologist Eric Orff, now of the National Wildlife Federation and formerly with NH Fish & Game for over 30 years.

His talk and PowerPoint slides illustrated the various encounters he has had with the state’s largest wildlife species, and was threaded through with concern about the declining population of the creatures.

“I have tranquilized over 40 moose and got them out of harm’s way,” said Orff, showing his first slide — the Cuddly Moose. The moose had been raised by someone in Wakefield, and enjoyed human company. Orff took it up to the boonies near Berlin and released into the wild.

“It was very unhappy to see me leave,” he said, stressing that most moose are not cuddly.

Next up was the Frightened Moose, which had been wandering in downtown Concord in the 1980s. Orff was able to steer it towards the river, and then got in close in his boat, to fire a tranquilizer dart. This moose obligingly stayed asleep in the boat while he towed it to Kearsarge for release.

His Fidgety Moose was in downtown Portsmouth. This one jumped a fence and turned a newly planted lawn into a plowed field. He was able to get the moose down to the river and watched it swim over to Maine, into someone else’s jurisdiction. He called the police to tell them the good news and was informed, “It just swam back again.”

The Stubborn Moose was also in Portsmouth, and when Orff fired his tranquilizer dart it jumped into the river with dozens of people watching. His team was able to pull it out just in time, before the drug took effect — normally a 10-minute time lag.

He told of the Wanderlust Moose, which he tranquilized in Salem and released in Bear Brook State Park. The next day, identified by a yellow ear tag, it had traveled some 10 miles west to be spotted in the intersection cloverleaf of Routes 93 and 89.

Then there was the moose basking in a small plastic swimming pool off Elm Street in Manchester, perilously close to a greenhouse, and the Pittsburg bull moose that Orff encountered when he gave a moose call and the animal, unexpectedly close in the undergrowth, called back.

“When it calls ‘Uuurf, Uuurf,’ it means it wants to ... and I didn’t want to do that,” said Orff, raising a laugh.

He recounted the stories of the Laid Back Moose at Berlin Fish Hatchery and the Rambunctious Moose at the Route 93 overpass in Manchester, and showed a slide of many Munchy Moose devouring fields of broccoli in Maine.

“Moose are like moths — they are attracted to light,” said Orff, going on to tell of the Raging Bull Moose he encountered on a darkening evening in Pittsburg, during an ear tagging program. It charged and he had the presence of mind to turn off his light. There was no picture of that scrape.

He went on to discuss the declining moose population in New Hampshire over the last five or six years and the reasons for it.

“In 1998/99 there were 7,500 moose in New Hampshire. Now there are 4,000. Five years ago, 675 (moose hunting) permits were issued. There will only be 124 this year,” he said.

While this past winter has been an exception, recent mild and shorter winters have impacted the moose population,” said Orff. This change in climate has benefitted the life cycle of winter ticks, which now infest the animals, with up to 100,000 of the parasites on a single moose.

“Our winters have warmed 4 degrees since the 1970s,” said Orff. “The moose are in poor shape. They are underweight. Ticks in winter and 80 degrees in June. Above 79 degrees it is too stressful for moose.”

He thanked Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, one of the sponsors of his talk (along with Farmington Conservation Commission) for helping to preserve thousands of acres of forest, where moose can take refuge in swamps during the heat.

Orff said that April is the biggest month for moose mortality, when the winter tick population on board is at a maximum.

“For the ticks, it’s like living in Florida, with the temperature 100 degrees,” he said.

In their attempts to rid themselves of the parasites, moose will often rub against trees until their thick fur comes off and then they can succumb to hypothermia.

“If we lose moose in New Hampshire, it will be a big economic hit. It is an $11 million a year industry,” he said.

Orff, on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation, asked for the audience’s help in lobbying for a reduction in carbon pollution, which he said was the cause of climate change.

People were invited to sign postcards addressed to the president in the White House, which read:

“In New Hampshire, moose are suffering from the impacts of a warming world. Not only is summer heat stress leaving some moose too thin to give birth to calves, warmer winters have caused spikes in the number of ticks — devastating the moose populations....

“Please use your authority under the Clean Air Act to set strong standards to limit carbon pollution from new and existing power plants in line.”

Wrapping up the evening, chairman of Farmington Conservation Commission, Dave Connolly, thanked the speaker and also paid tribute to the underwriters of the event, Taylor Rental of Route 11 in Farmington.